Happy Holidays

Hey All
Just a quick note to wish you all a wonderful and joyous holiday!

I know I haven't been blogging in a while. I've been busy changing diapers, making baby food, holiday shopping and of course lots of playing with my two lil ones. I'm having tons of fun but am super busy. Hopefully in the new year I'll have more time to blog. For now I'm watching my kids grow up way too fast so I've found it hard to rationalize the time on the computer.

My parents are visiting for the Holiday so I'm really enjoying this wonderful family time together.

So for now, gotta run and finish some chores before bed.

Merry Christmas all, talk soon!

C.

REVIEW - From the Blue House {With Love}

Perfect Stranger

This week, at our regular playgroup, my lil Toddler started out the class a little shy. This was very typical of him a few months ago but more recently he's grown confident and outgoing. The odd time however, like this week, he'll huddle around mommy's legs for a bit before warming up to the crowd. The teacher said in her swinging voice, "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Roooooossssii" to which he puckered his lips, jutted his head to one side and said "NO". Now, I'm not the type of mom who gets mortified by such things cause I know it's a toddler thing so I rolled my eyes at his teacher and said "lil cranks this morning I guess". By the end of the class, he had his rhythm goin and was dancing up a storm. I encouraged him to say thank you to the teacher and he went and gave her a big hug, soo cute!! I patted him on the cheek and said that was a much better way of reacting to the teacher, "I think she liked that very much!".

On the ride home, I thought back to the week. How he was staring at someone in line at the grocery store..and stared.....and stared. I whispered in his ear that if he wanted to stare at someone he should at least say hi. Then at the dept store - he was entertaining the ladies by being his charming self. Then the Doctor's office I encouraged him to return the good morning to the ladies at the reception and then to the people on the way out who were staring at him. He refused to say hi to one of the ladies who talked to him and she returned to him, " you are right! You shouldn't talk to strangers". hmmmmm, that got me thinking...is there a perfect stranger? I mean who qualifies as safe to speak to, hug or "take candy from"? 

I grew up in a VERY small town in Newfoundland (we're talking 200 ppl). Shout out to my Newfie readers!!! Anyways, there everyone knew everyone and all the details of their every move. I was accustomed to playing in the streets, popping into my playmates house for a cup a tea and a lassie bun :) There was hardly a concern if I was late getting home. My parents knew just who to call if they were concerned and it was generally obvious of my whereabouts. But these days, it's sadly different. I wouldn't dream of letting my son even play in our backyard without supervision...IN MY OWN HOME!! The headlines are plagued with frightening stories and we grow more and more paranoid as our lil ones approach independance. So comes my inner debate on when to teach my son the difference between being polite and being cautious. One of the things we adore about our children is their innocence, so at what stage do we teach him that the world is otherwise? If I do say so myself, my son is rather charming :)

 I certainly don't want to be the one to quash (weird word) that and make him an introvert to new people but at the same how do I teach him to be cautious??! Now I know I am getting a little ahead of myself here. He is just 2.5 and is never anywhere without an adult but at what age do I start to teach him about such things? Do I start the first day of school? Here son, today you start school. Not only are you entering a whole new world of structured curriculum, new teachers, and funny librarians but just to shatter your world - this is a crazy place we live in full of monsters and adults you CAN'T trust - have a nice day!!

Thankfully my husband has a better sense for this kind of stuff so I'll rely on him for more direction. But who knows what the right answer is...just some food for thought I guess.

Little update on our little cat napper. She's not a great sleeper and that's just who she is I guess :) Although there are days where the naps are great! But for the most part, we are up even more at night (every 1 hr - 1.5 hrs). Our Ped advised that the night time feedings are still necessary. She hasn't gained a ton of weight lately so I'm "happy" to feed her as often as possible till we reach the magic 6 month mark where she can start eating the real stuff! Can't believe it's that time already. She is hitting all kinds of milestones - rolling over (attributing to even more wake ups), giggling, and grabbing at her toys. I really do love this stage. She is tons of fun and it is getting easier now that she can play along with Rossi and I in her own way. Keeva has tons of personality and I just know she is going to grow to be a strong and thoughtful woman. She certainly tells me what she wants with her loud voice but also shows me how much I mean to her with her beautiful smile and deep telling eyes.

My kids mean the world to me. I'm no perfect mama but love is what I have to give and I hope that it shapes them and comforts them, and let's them know that home is always a safe place.

Recipe Tuesday

Well, it's Tuesday night. I skipped dinner tonight and jolted out to do some errands. I really do hate big box stores, although can appreciate the lower pricing at this time of year. My aim is to be done all Christmas shopping by latest December 1st.
Anyways in my famished stupor, thought I'd post a quick recipe for you to try! It's a really fast Risotto, I LOVE Risotto! Revise and play with it as you wish, that's how I came up with it! Sorry I can't offer a pic, gobbled it down too quickly last time I made it

Here it is...

SAHM'S EASY RISOTTO
Serves 4 - with leftovers depending if you pair it with something else
Ingredients

1/2 Onion  - finely chopped (I like to use my mini chopper and really grind it down)
1/2 tsp Saffron (optional)
1/4 cup (or less) butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup Arborio rice
1.5 cup low sodium chicken broth *
2.5 cup water
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (the dried doesn't work well here, if you don't have fresh - omit)
1/4 cup (or more) grated Parmesan

* you can always substitute the chicken broth with veggie or just water with  a little salt.

Directions
- Heat the butter on low-med until melted, add oil and turn up to med-high
- Fry the onion in your sauce/rice pot until translucent, add the saffron and arborio rice and fry for another minute or so - just to coat the rice and saffron with the butter and oil
If you like mushrooms (unlike my hubs,boooo!), add em with the onion
- Add the broth and water, stir, and bring to a boil
- Turn down to low-med heat and stir occasionally
- Once the risotto  hits your desired consistency, add the parsley and Parmesan. Give it a good stir, serve and enjoy!
A few twists of your black pepper mill over your dish finishes it perfectly!


I revised my risotto recipe to avoid the 30 min over the pot stirring (who has time for that??!) Generally all you have to do is add your rice and 4 times the amount of water, let it cook over med-high heat and voila! Done! With the occasional stir of course :)

Better go grab a bite myself .....got some codfish concoction and bread rolls on the stove. hmmmm, can I eat fish this late..questionable :) 

Oh!, little bears' waking up for her first (of many) little snacks of the night...gotta run, snack later !

Happy Halloween Eve Eve Eve!

We started our festivities yesterday with our momstown weekly playgroup! It was a lot of fun to get together with some other mommies and chat while our little ones painted pumpkins (or was supposed to) and ate all kinds of homemade treats!

Here's my two pumpkins  lounging before heading to the party!
Check out Rossi's legs....obviously underestimated how much he's grown in the past while and bought a costume at least one size too small. It was a little shameful but he made a cute race car driver nonetheless :)
BTW, I picked up their "costumes" on a rush trip to the mall one day at Old Navy. I really have a hard time spending $$ on costumes for this age, hopefully next year I can be a little more creative and make something for them....maybe.

 

Gone are the days of apples and bananas in our treat bags. Unfortunately some crazies have made it very difficult for us to hand out healthy treats. Of course when I was a kid, I really didn't appreciate the fruit and would have opted for the trick if that were the supposed treat. However, it's all in the presentation sometimes for these kids. Weelicious (one of my favourite websites) has a great number of recipes featured this week for Halloween. I am hoping to create a couple of these ghoulish creations myself this weekend to tempt Rossi if I can get around to it. I've already made 3 batches of these cookies. Both kid and adult alike have gobbled them up.

Please share any Halloween treats/recipes that you have had success with, I love new and creative ideas for baking for my family!

 

This year we will likely bring Rossi out to a couple of houses in the neighbourhood. Last year, Daddy took him to about 4 houses and he was done after that. He can be shy at times so he was content with just coming back home and rockin the dragon in his own environment. Gosh, he was really just a baby last year...sigh..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



HALLOWEEN TIPS FROM THIS SAHM



•  Attach some piece of reflective gear to your child's costume (especially for those T & T'ing without an escort.
• Respect allergies by offering peanut free options to your guests. Why not also add a diabetic candy or two? It's a real bummer for kids with diabetes this time of year. Most big box stores sell sugar free wrapped candy, check it out!
• If you don't want your kids to devour all the goodies in one sitting, come up with a candy compromise before the treating begins. But remember compromise works both ways - give in a little :)
• Fill your kids belly with a healthy snack/meal prior to the treating and eating. Get them involved in the cooking/baking. I find they are more likely to eat it if they help make it. This MAY help with the sugar gluttony
• If your kids are small enough and you can get a way with it, ration the goodies. Hide or divvy up into your own little treat bags to control the amounts - out of sight, out of mind right? (This is more what I do more for myself :)
• Host a party. Dress up, have some fun, invite friends!
• Above all,  be safe - if there is ever a question of safety - err on the side of caution.

Here's a great guide to Halloween from SavvyMom.ca. It has some really cool alternatives to the ever classic pumpkin sugar cookie, as well as some other great tips - sign up for their newsletter as well and get daily emails. Some I like, some I delete but see for yourself :)

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everyone!
Talk soon!

Thanks for Daily bread...and patience God :)

As suspected, there is a huge gap from my last post. There really isn't an excuse. I've certainly had a writers block with lack of sleep and have sat here many nights just staring, then gave up -  "I got nothin" and went back to surfing the net or more likely chores.

Keeva is still not sleeping well, in fact gotten a little worse this week. She's up at night every 2 hours or less. Sometimes I feed her, other times my wonderful hubs steps in to help get her back to sleep. This little smarty gets angry with the food supplier when I don't give in and feed her every time. And without getting into a huge debate or voicing opinions, nursing is not as easy as it seems sometimes. There are enormous benefits and for me, it is still the best option but there certainly are times when I wonder if bottle feeding would make things just a little easier. That along with anything else can be debated of course.

When I was a kid, most babies were formula fed. I understand that with time, there has been more information surrounding the benefits of breastfeeding but I've heard horror stories from moms who have either chosen or cannot breastfeed. There is so much pressure that parents often have a guilt associated with feeding their baby!! That's outrageous!! Listen, I am pro nursing but that is my decision. To all you moms out there nursing or formula, we are all providing the best for our baby and are equally blessed to be able to do so. There are many unfortunate families who do not have the health or finances to provide either. Let's lay off the pressure on both sides and count our blessings. Gosh, that sounded a little "preachy", cool! :)

Keeva has never liked the bottle and as much as we have tried with expressed milk, she refuses to drink from one. We decided it was a good idea to at least introduce her to a bottle (to provide some freedom for apnts,etc.) and gave her one every day since birth. She never liked it so finally I gave up and stopped trying. Honestly I am fine with that, I do enjoy that cuddle time with her. At first I was a little frustrated but I know I'm lucky to be able to nurse her so it's cool. It is ironic however. With Rossi, I was never happy leaving him with anyone and missed him terribly if I had to. He was great with taking the bottle. With Keeva (as a second time mom) I'm more willing to take a couple of hours and go out and do some errands but of course she hates it and keeps me close to home or I take her with me, which is fine too. But wouldn't that bottle supplement be nice for that extra dose of caffeine, maybe a glass of wine? LOL. And what about those nursing bras moms? Zero support!! Could I feel any less sexy postpartum?  In perspective, I'm sure I'll miss these days where she is so reliant on me. So goes most challenges we face with our kids right?
Perspective and hindsight are things I say to myself every morning when my day starts without ample sleep. That and a prayer for patience today and everyday when my toddler asks me 1075 times why is....?why that....?...what's that?, where's it? I want to?..... and for my littlest bear when she's obviously exhausted and sleeps her common 20 min nap (although not to jinx myself, getting much better with the daytime sleeping).  All in all though my kids are the joy of my life, I'm blessed to have them both and thankful that these are only small challenges that we have to face. Rossi is the funniest little man, Keeva is Mrs. personality - always smiling and just melts my heart with every grin.



I ran downstairs to get my camera and look at this! Finally....a moment where I can see that these sib's are just gonna have the best times together!

Review ""Country Soaps by Marlene" continued

Hey All - just wanted to add a few notes to this review.
I went in search of Goat Milk Soaps on recommendation that it was great for babies and those with eczema so I searched (first for CDN suppliers) but then etsy and found several suppliers. Marlene was by the far the one with the best response and most helpful. Just to add to the review, she sells other goodies like scrubs, lotion,lip balms, etc. so I'd recommend checking it out. Keeva's skin feels "squeaky" when I use it in the bath but soft afterwards. A little different feeling than the usual high lather body wash I regularly use on her but definitely better results. Oooh and another important point to remember for mommies is that these soaps typically are not formulated "tear free" so you may have to use another baby safe shampoo for their hair - unless of course you are super careful.


One thing I did miss in the youtube video was her actual web address - she can be found at
http://hyenacart.com/countrysoapsbymarlene

I PM'd Marlene on etsy to combine some of the soaps I saw on her site with those on etsy - she was great about putting together a customized pkg. for me.


Here's a blurb:

About Goat’s Milk ~ Goat’s milk is very high in vitamins, minerals and proteins as well as high in lactic acid which helps exfoliate dead skin cells and soften your skin. We use natural oils such as olive, rice bran, coconut, pumpkin, grapeseed, perilla seed, fractionated coconut, palm, cocoa butter, avocado, lard, sweet almond and shea butter to nourish & moisturize your skin. We scent the soaps with pure essential oils and skin safe fragrance oils. Any coloring is done with skin safe colorings. All our soaps are hand cut, varying slightly in size and shape. It takes approximately 6-8 weeks from the day I make the soap to the time you’re able to use it. Some take 3 months before they can be used.
Our bar soap is Handmade from 100% Fresh Creamy Goats Milk No Added WATER !"

I'm thinking it was the fragrance oils that may have made me itch a little with the Pumpkin soap, who knows? The others didn't have the fragrance. Didn't really bother me enough to discontinue however.
Sounds scrumptious! If you prefer etsy, again  http://www.etsy.com/shop/countrysoapsbymarlen